Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Former Cyprus politician Michalis Sarris is paraded outside the court by police with one of the teenagers arrested

By Paul Canning

Turkish Cypriot leaders have bowed to pressure from MEPs and agreed to repeal a law outlawing homosexuality.

Dervis
Eroglu, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot government in the northern
part of Cyprus said he would sign a repeal of the ban into law.

Northern Cyprus is the last part of Europe where it is illegal to be gay.

MEPs
also pressed Eroglu to keep his promise to ensure that any new law
includes a provision to protect children from sexual abuse.

In a 13 December letter to British Conservative MEP for London Marina Yannakoudakis from Eroglu , he writes:

"The draft proposal for the repeal of the part of the criminal code,
chapter 154, which penalises same sex sexual activity has been submitted
to the general assembly on 25 October 2011 by a political party, the
Communal Democracy Party. This draft legislation states that not only
girls and women but also boys and men can be victims of rape and sexual
abuse."

Eroglu pledged to support the repeal, saying:

"We gave our considered
opinion to the government that the draft proposal concerned should be
adopted and section 171 should be abolished without delay."

"I am pleased that Eroglu has honoured the promise he made to me in October."

"There
have been a number of concerns about human rights in the northern part
of Cyprus. By agreeing to decriminalise homosexuality Eroglu is taking
concrete measures to ensure those living in the north part of Cyprus may
enjoy the same human rights as their fellow Europeans."

In October a number of men were arrested for 'homosexual offenses' in North Cyprus, leading to an international outcry about the law.

They included former finance minister Michalis Sarris. He skipped
a 17 November court appearance, forgoing €47,000 bail money. Yesterday
he was appointed chairman of Marfin Popular Bank, the island’s
second-biggest lender.

Four of those arrested accused the police of brutality. Northern Cyprus
group Initiative Against Homophobia accused the Northern Cyprus media in
their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and
'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.